Linux Development: 7 Surprising Facts About Who Writes Linux Apps

Linux Development: 7 Surprising Facts About Who Writes Linux Apps

By Sean Michael Kerner

Linus Torvalds Isn't Top Linux Kernel Developer

Although Linus Torvalds continues to lead Linux kernel development, he is not the leading contributor. In fact, Torvalds currently ranks 101st on the latest "Who Writes Linux" report for the number of patches generated from the Linux 3.3 to the Linux 3.10 kernel releases.

Diverse Base of Developers Contributes to Linux

Since 2012, 1,110 developers from 225 different companies have contributed code to Linux.

Red Hat Tops List of Corporate Contributions to Linux

In terms of corporate sponsors of Linux, Red Hat leads the list, with its developers contributing 10.2 percent of all changes. Red Hat is followed by chip vendors Intel at 8.8 percent and Texas Instruments at 4.1 percent. IBM is credited with contributing 3.1 percent of code changes, Google comes in at 2.4 percent, and Oracle is at 1.3 percent.

Greg Kroah-Hartman Is Top Linux Code Reviewer

In the Linux kernel development model, not only is there a code author, but there is also a developer reviewer who looks at the code for sign-off. From the 3.2 kernel to the Linux 3.10 kernel, developer Greg Kroah-Hartman tops the list, reviewing 12.5 percent of that code.

Linux Kernel Change Rate Continues to Grow

With each kernel release there is an increasing volume of code changes are submitted.The Linux 3.10 kernel is made up of 16,961,031 lines of code. In contrast, the Linux 3.0 kernel that was released in July of 2011 and had only 14,651,135 lines of code.

Linux Kernel Development Speed Is Staying Fast

New mainline Linux kernels are released at a rapid rate that averages just over 60 days since the Linux 3.0 release in 2011.

Kernel Releases Get Many Updates

When Linus Torvalds releases a new stable kernel, that's not the end of that particular kernel's release cycle. Kernels are constantly updated as bug, stability and security fixes emerge.

The Linux kernel got its start 22 years ago with the work of Finnish software developer Linus Torvalds. Over the past two decades, Torvalds' project has grown significantly as an increasing number of developers have joined him in the development of Linux. Linux development isn't just an individual developer activity however, as corporate development and contributions have played a key role in the evolution of Linux. As opposed to being written by any one developer or company, Linux is written by all those developers and companies that contribute code. In an effort to quantify and identify who all those contributors are, the Linux Foundation issues an annual "Who Writes Linux" report that details the state of Linux growth and code contributions. The 2013 version of the report being released this week once again shows continued growth in terms of the volume of contributions and the number of people who are making those code contributions. With the help of data from the Linux Foundation, eWEEK takes a look at some of the facts about who is actually writing Linux and what they are writing in 2013.